Back when he was in his purple patch of form, he was a good one-day player, scoring good runs at nearly a run a ball. I would put yesterday's performance mostly down to him still being out of form. His rather scratchy runs in the tests didn't convince me he'd really turned the corner yet.
Sky appear to have no quality control on their commentators at all. If you're an ex-England captain and you want the job, it's yours, it would seem. I like Holding and Bumble (although Bumble seems to be believing his own press about being a funny man a bit too much now); Atherton has something. The rest are rather shite.
Swann was sacked. He didn't pussy out.
Ah right. It does appear that he has said that. Missed this - he says that Andy Flower told him to fuck off. TBH that's even weirder. Flower does seem to have acted like a bit of a dick near the end.
It is to me.. What were you doing there?
It was a work-related thing. I'm doing some media work for them. The meeting was in the main part of the pavillion. I'm not really a cricket bod, but the aura, gentle sense of theatre, history, and gravitas, did leave an impression. I've been told that if I want to film in there I have to wear a suit and tie!
Don't you think there's an argument for an anchor on an 'English' wicket, where the bowlers have more of a shout and a par score (not saying England made it) is 220-240 and you expect to lose wickets?
Problem is pre-planning the anchor. Graeme Swann has now criticised the policy where England were thumped by Sri Lanka in the world cup after they'd scored 230-odd. They'd planned that score before the innings had started, and that's the problem. You can't plan conservatively like that. You've got to stride out thinking 300 is on, and revise down later if necessary.
